Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki (b. Hirofumi Nishizaki, 1934) died on November 7 after falling overboard off the coast of Chichijima Island. Nishizaki wrote and produced the anime series Space Cruiser Yamato, Star Blazers, and Space Battleship Yamato among others. He was wearing a wetsuit and was believed to be planning on going for a swim at the time of his accident.

Scriptwriter Takeshi Shudō (b.1949) died on October 29 from a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Shudō worked for Studio Ghibli before taking a job at the Pokémon Company, where he became the chief writer for Pokémon and worked on the company’s first three films.

Animator Satoshi Kon (b. 1963) died on August 24. Kon began drawing manga for Young magazine and eventually became an animator, working on films including Rojin Z and Memories. In 1998, he directed Perfect Blue. He was currently working on The Dream Machine.

Actor Peter Fernandez (b. 1927) died on July 15. Fernandez is best known for his involvement with the 1967 anime series Speed Racer, providing the voicework for both Speed Racer and Racer X and writing scripts. Other shows of genre interest he worked on include Captain Video and His Video Rangers, Gigantor, and Space Cruiser Yamato and the films Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster and Mothra. He had a bit role in the live-action Speed Racer film.

The Harvey Award nominations have been announced. The awards, named for Harvey Kurtzmann, recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art. The awards will be presented on August 28 at the Baltimore Comic Con.

Carl Macek (b.1950) died on April 17 after suffering an heart attack. Macek began his career doing grassroots promotional work for films such as Star Wars and Alien. In the early 1980s, he worked with Harmony Gold to create the Robotech series. Throughout his career, he helped support the dubbing and creation of anime, helping to bring it to a wider US audience.